Colorado Nursing Programs Advice

Hi, moving2Denver. Welcome to Colorado. Your get-a-job strategy sounds great. Your GPA might be challenging given the current flood of nursing school applications.

University of Denver is a private liberal arts college in south-central Denver and doesn't have a nursing school.

University of Colorado's nursing school is not on the UC-Denver campus, but on the Anschutz Medical Campus east of town. Probably the toughest Colorado school to get into, but they're ALL tough. The lowest pre-admit GPA to my school (UNC) was 3.7, and it rises each year.

Try poking around past sites for info CU, Regis & Metro. Regis is a Catholic school with several options, including one designed for healthcare workers. If you aced your pre-reqs that particular program might be a good match for you. CU used to have a program for workers employed at UCH hospital, but that might be discontinued? Metro I don't know about at all.

Good luck!

Dina

I'm applying to ALL the colorado ABSN programs I can so I'm pretty familiar with them by now. Although Regis is an amazing school, it's the most expensive. I'm guessing you primarily want schools in the Denver area, which would be UC Denver, Regis, and Metro. If you're willing to commute, there's also UNC, UCCS, and CSU-Pueblo. Those are all the accredited Colorado schools that offer ABSN programs. The top three are UC Denver, Regis, and UNC though. I hope that helped somewhat.

With your bachelors GPA of 3.0, even with straight A's in all your prerequisites, it would be nearly impossible to get into any of the three popular Denver area accelerated programs. The other thing you will find is huge wait-lists for the Denver area ADN programs or for those that have moved to a competitive entry, a similar level of competition. I too had a 3.0 for my bachelors and became discouraged after talking to hundreds of students throughout the prerequisites about the realities of the Denver nursing school situation. I heard a number of students getting denied with very high GPA's (in BA/BS and prerequisites). My advice to you is to do what I ended up having to do but do it smarter. I ended up finding a fully accredited rural area ADN program which accepted students on a first come, first serve basis. There are a number of them in rural areas of Colorado: Lamar Community College in Lamar, Co (where I ended up going) and OJC in La Junta, etc. Figure out which prerequisites they require since it is usually several classes less than the accelerated programs. I think Lamar is just A and P 1 and 2, micro, stats, and English comp (waived with a BA/BS). Then enroll and become an RN in 2 years. Yeah it requires a move to the middle of nowhere, but it is nursing school! You literally don't have time to sleep most of the time let alone experience the city you are living in. It took me five semesters to take all the prerequisites that are required for a my top 5 choices of schools in Denver and in hindsight I could have completed only those required for an ADN program in 2 semesters. Believe me, I wanted to get some sort of credit for the 4 years I spent on my bachelors but without a GPA above 3.7 the odds are against you. Way too many students switching to nursing amidst a nursing educator shortage. I hope this helps, good luck!

I had a 3.01 after my BS, I got a 4.0 in my prereqs, and I got into University of Colorado Denver's traditional BSN program. I think they put a lot of weight on the essay if you have a lower GPA, and I also think the 4.0 in my prereqs helped. It is worth applying even if your GPA is not stellar. If you are open to doing a traditional program that will help. The new 1 year accelerated at CU Denver just looks exhausting to me.

"With your bachelors GPA of 3.0, even with straight A's in all your prerequisites, it would be nearly impossible to get into any of the three popular Denver area accelerated programs. "

More difficult, but not impossible. Mine was below 3.0 and I ended up at Metro. DO good on your pre-reqs and when applying be sure to emphasize any work, life, volunteer, etc experiences you have had and what you have gained from them.

Having graduated and being out in the nursing workforce for awhile, my opinion is you couldn't go wrong with CU, Regis, or Metro. I have worked with great nurses from DSON as well.

Good luck!